The Seven Wards
The Seven Wards are the remnants of Kevin Landwaster's vast collection of knowledge which he hid ensuring its protection from the Ritual of Desecration. Each Ward was designed to lead its owners to the next Ward, once its knowledge was properly understood. However, due to their oath never to enact a ritual of desecration, the new Lords' relationship to the Land changed; this change in life and mindset prevented them from ever understanding even The First Ward sufficiently to lead to the Second. The Second Ward was found thanks to chance (and a little inspiration). It was only obtained because the presence of the white gold allowed them to by-pass its protections. The Seventh Ward is only reached because Kevin Landwaster's eternal servant, Amok, leads them to its brink and because the Bloodguard, who were alive in Kevin's time, knew the key. The First Ward The First Ward was given to the Giants to care for by Kevin, and is now known as 'the fundamental store.' The Giants later returned it to the people of Revelstone and a select few took it to Kurash Plenethor, renaming it Trothguard as a token of their promise to heal the land, and there founded the Loresraat. The Second Ward The Second Ward was found by chance while a group was traveling with Covenant under Mount Thunder. A member of the Loresraat was able to piece together what he had learned from The First Ward with his surroundings. He was killed by the protections surrounding the Ward (which The First Ward would have taught them how to by-pass, had they been able to understand it). Thomas Covenant was able to disrupt the protections using wild magic. The Lore, and presumably all the others, are written in a different language and so only the surface of the Lore's knowledge has been revealed. The easiest thing translated is the Warlore, which details the arts of battle and defenses. The Third Ward Nothing is known of the circumstances that led to the discovery of the Third Ward, or even its location. Thomas Covenant saw the casket holding the luminous scrolls (identical to the First and Second), stored along with the first two in the Aumbrie deep beneath Revelstone. This was shortly after his confrontation with the na-Mhoram who led the Riders of the Clave. (See The Wounded Land.) Presumably the first three Wards are still safe beneath Revelstone even in the age of the Masters, as nothing further has been said about them. The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Wards Even though these were never discovered, all three were identified in a vision Jeremiah had of The Land as it was restored following the devastation inflicted by the Worm of the World's End and his final confrontation with Lord Foul. I will update this entry when I have a moment to review the relevant text in the closing pages of The Last Dark. From the text at the end of The Last Dark, Moksha gives Jeremiah a vision: “Some were millennia old: a jeweled casket sunk deep into the mire of the Great Swamp, a tapestry sealed in a cavern lost among the snows of the Northron Climbs, a periapt as crowded with knowledge as a tome.” Later the boys confides, “I can tell you where to find Kevin’s Wards.” The Seventh Ward See Earthblood From The Illearth War: ‘Without hesitation, Amok replied, “I am the Seventh Ward of High Lord Kevin’s Lore.”’ Therefore, Amok is the Seventh Ward. Earthpower is the lore protected by the Seventh Ward. Finally once they reach the Earthblood: “Behold,” Amok said quietly. “Behold the Blood of the Earth. Here I fulfill the purpose of my creation. I am the Seventh Ward of High Lord Kevin’s Lore. The power to which I am the way and the door is here.” Amok, leads Covenant and Lord Elena to the Power of Command. Category:Artifacts